I wasn't really sure what to call this post... I just want to get the point across to people that they ARE strong enough to overcome difficult obstacles. YOU deserve to have the confidence to change your life for the better, because you are WORTH IT.

I haven’t posted a good post in a little while. I have been swamped with school, work, the gym, and actually having a social life. I am actually so proud of everything that I have accomplished this summer so far. Let’s see…

My GPA this summer so far is a 3.5 (1 A and 1 B so far).

I have gone to 2 concerts, visited DC for the day, and enjoyed the company with my good friends until the early morning.

I GOT A JOB AT A PT OFFICE!!! I am now an exercise specialist :) It is honestly exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. I get to help people, go through exercises, and clean. Literally all 3 things I LOVE. (Maybe even more than going to grad school to be an OT? Hmmm…..)

I have also been killing it at the gym! I have been doing crazy amounts of push-ups and other body weight exercises and I am working on pull-ups right now. My goal is to get a few in a row by the end of the summer!

Yes, I have made many accomplishments so far this summer, but yes, there have been some setbacks. Got to take the good with the bad, right? For example, I used to be scared to post progress pictures of myself at the gym…crazy right? I went through this small phase where I didn’t want to post anything because there were people who were 10x stronger than more, more lean than me, and just more photogenic. I honestly did not post any pictures because I felt I did not meet the standard of perfection. Well, let me just tell you… I got over that very quickly. I decided that there is no perfection. I am still at the beginning of my journey, hell, as I am concerned, I will never reach the finish line. I live a healthy lifestyle because I enjoy living this way… not because I want to look a certain way. I love my body, which is why I work out, not because I hate my body. I will never be satisfied because I know I can ALWAYS do better! Now… what can I say to give people more self-confidence? And I don’t mean the confidence to walk outside and think they look good. I mean all around confidence. Confidence to know they are worth so much. Confidence to know that they deserve the entire world and that they shouldn’t settle for less. How can I get this across? You guessed it, quotes. “The first step to getting what you want is having the courage to get rid of what you don’t.” I could not agree with this more. How can you ever move forward if something is holding you back? It could be a person, a place, or even a memory. Once you finally get up the courage to let go of the things that hold you down, you will see that there is so much more to life. SO much more. You really don’t realize your worth, but I do. I honestly might not have ANY idea who you are, but I can promise you one thing, I am rooting for you. You will have brick walls in your way your ENTIRE life. That is inevitable. There are many ways you can get around the wall… climb it, dig a tunnel, run around it, jump over it… or you can just punch it and sit there. You can keep punching it; keep working at getting it to fall… but your fist can’t beat bricks. You can sit there and cry about it, get some sympathy for it, and throw a pity party of 1… but when all that is over, the wall will STILL be there. You make the decision on how to get rid of the wall. “We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.” There are two different ways you can go about situations... you can take the easy way our or the hard way out. Who doesn’t want to do what is easier? It takes less effort, probably less tears, and a hell of a lot more persistence. But you know what? You are going to be that much stronger. You are going to have another win under your belt. And yes, being scared is OKAY. It is completely normal… it means that you are about to do something so brave, take that leap of faith. “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because their trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings.” Everything you need is right inside of you. All the strength, courage, and ability… it is waiting for you to use. You have the ability to overcome any obstacle, the courage to take the first step, and the strength to keep your chin up. You might fall to your knees at one point and the world may seem like it is going to end, but you know what? You are going to be just fine. “We make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” The mind is a powerful thing. It has the ability to change your entire day within seconds. It can make you go from extremely happy to extremely sad. But… it can also do the opposite. You need to ask yourself if you want to be happy. Do you? Let go of what is gone, love what you still have, and look forward to what is coming tomorrow. You are making yourself miserable right now, or you are gaining the strength to change your life. “Don’t be scared to walk alone, don’t be scared to like it.” A few months ago my boyfriend/best friend of a year and a half broke up. I was terrified to be alone. I mean, it had been a year and a half of having someone there for me… then all of a sudden I lost it, that isn’t something easy to forget. I am going to admit it… I was scared to be alone. I remember I was talking to my mom one night and she told me… “Ky, the only thing I ever wanted for you and Shelby is to be able to live without a man. To be independent enough to where you don’t need someone by your side.” When she said that, my outlook completely changed. I don’t need a man to make me happy, I don’t need ANYONE by my side to make me happy. I make me happy. I was lucky to grow up with such a strong foundation, but that is not the reason that I am the strong, independent girl I am today. I am the strong, independent girl I am today because I worked at it. I worked at being alone, and I let go of the fear of enjoying it. Environment plays a big part in situations… but your mindset plays an even bigger one. A woman who does not need a man to validate her existence is the most feared individual on this planet. That is quote to live by, ladies. “We all have a fighter in us.” This quote makes me giggle because I am most certainly a lover not a fighter. I hate violence and if there is a situation that involves me, I am going to let it go. I don’t waste my time with it. BUT… when you physically or verbally hurt my family or select close friends, I will stand up. I WILL find the fighter in me. I am very protective of what is mine, and I do not let anyone mess with that. I feel very strongly about standing up for others, I almost feel it is my duty. I think I learned that from growing up with my sister and cousins. I am the baby out of the four of us, so everyone grew up protecting me my entire life. I am so thankful for it. I think I have the biggest heart in the sense that I wear it on my sleeve. I am a sucker for love, super outgoing, crazy loud, and a just an all around LOVER. Out of the four of us, I definitely take home that ribbon. But I am so thankful for the way I am, because subconsciously I have learned how to stand up for others because I had three amazing role models protecting me my entire life (Shelby, Samantha, Danielle). “People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing.” This is actually the first time that I have seen this quote and I love it. There truly is never a right time to do something difficult; you MAKE the time right. You will be pushed to your limits time in and time out, it is up to you to make the decision to take the difficult step. Life is not fair and about 80% of the time, things don’t turn out the way we want them to. Life has a funny way of working out that way. But you know, a year from now, you are going to look back and realize how small this mountain really is it. Sometimes that mountain you’ll be climbing is just a grain of sand. If you keep praying for the right time to complete a difficult task… you’ll be praying forever. This is the right time. Right now is the right time. TODAY is always the right time.